Littleton owner will relocate jazz café

Thursday

May 15, 2014 at 5:01 PMMay 15, 2014 at 5:01 PM

By Lindsey O’Donnelllhodonnell@wickedlocal.com

The Acton Jazz Café, a small cultural gem formerly tucked in the Nagog Park Mall plot, functioned as a suburban haven where residents could go to enjoy live rock, jazz and blues music, karaoke, and open microphone events.But after 18 years of providing music to Acton, the restaurant closed April 29, afflicted by a financially challenging year.The café’s owner, Littleton resident Gwenn Vivian, said this past year has been extremely difficult, mainly because harsh weather conditions have impeded the café’s clientele."We had a very tough winter and lost 11 nights to severe weather and road conditions, enough to cause us to fall behind on rent," said Vivian, who has lived in Littleton for eight years.Hoping to make up for revenue losses from terrible winter, Vivian worked on a huge renovation on the café’s room, including a new stage and seating arrangements, and the menu, which caused "business to soar" in the past few months, she said.But despite a temporary rocket in business, Vivian said her landlord accepted an offer on the space for another restaurant and gave her a settlement to move out in April.Vivian called the change in location "somewhat heartbreaking but also freeing.""The Nagog Mall has suffered a severe loss in tenancy over the last few years, and it was hard work to generate enough business with so many of the neighboring businesses and office buildings lying empty," said Vivian.Looking forward, Vivian said she is looking to relocate the cafe in a new area with higher traffic levels, hopefully near a commuter rail. She added the café’s location may remain in Acton, as she holds an active liquor license in that town, but a new space in another neighboring town is also a possibility.Vivian also noted that she hopes to reopen sometime this summer, but if she takes the café to another town or looks at new construction options, it could take longer.Before she lived in Littleton, Vivian said she also lived in West Acton and Westford.Vivian said she started the Acton Jazz Café in 1996 with her former husband, Robert Rosenberg at another location at 452 Great Road, leased by the Worker’s Credit Union.The idea to begin a jazz café blossomed from a desire to create a place where musicians could work and be heard, said Vivian."I went to Berkeley College of Music [in Boston] as a pianist, and when I started looking for work, I realized there were very few job opportunities for musicians," said Vivian. "I wanted to create a place where people who love music could come together."Music is a catalyst of people getting together," she added. "People rely on the café as a community center, a place to play and to hear music."After the end of its lease with the Worker’s Credit Union, the café moved to its second, and more recent, location in Acton in 2012. Rosenbeurg had left the business in 2000, and Vivian said she joined with her current business partner, Josely Nogueira, after the café moved to the mall.It was the café’s "second incarnation," Vivian said."You wouldn’t believe the backlash we’ve got from people upset that we were closing down," she said. "But we’re going to reopen eventually."Follow Lindsey O’Donnell on Twitter @lhodonnellWL and the Littleton Independent @LittletonIndie.